As our leaders gather in New York for a UN meeting on climate change, it's fair to ask which measures to date have contributed the most to slow global warming. Because no one has really thought to ask this question, The Economist recently tried to find out. »9/24/14 10:24pm 9/24/14 10:24pm

In 1901, Thomas Edison developed the recharcheable nickel-iron battery, a technology he hoped to see implemented in electric cars. But a slow rate of energy output and slower charging time saw it superseded by lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries in standard and electric cars alike. »6/28/12 12:10pm 6/28/12 12:10pm

Bentley is refreshing. Their ultra-luxe, mega-horsepower sleds, favored rides of autocrats, royalty and rap tycoons, are such a specialized product that the Craftsmen of Crewe can pretty much reduce their whole climate-change/fuel-scarcity strategy to a question of customer relations. I promised I'd read the white… »3/20/08 4:45pm 3/20/08 4:45pm

Let's put our hands together for Rick Wagoner, the CEO and Chairman of General Motors, who just discovered how to clean up after his s**t-loving Vice-Chairman, "Maximum" Bob Lutz. It was exactly a month ago when we first told you about product czar "Maximum" Bob's claim that global warming was simply a crock of...you… »3/12/08 5:05pm 3/12/08 5:05pm

Agree or disagree with the sentiments of GM's product czar Bob Lutz, you have to respect him for his frankness. In our experience, it's fairly easy to identify a total crock of shit like global warming once you take into consideration the complex interactions of geophysics, global weather patterns and complex high… »2/12/08 5:45pm 2/12/08 5:45pm

Flying cars that dart about on the collective power of midichlorians are still a few years out. One of the wicked easy things we can do in to conserve fuel in the meantime is check our tire pressure. This fact was not lost on Savannah Walters , who at nine years old heard that we waste four million gallons of fuel per… »8/03/07 2:00pm 8/03/07 2:00pm

Swedes have long been accustomed to packing their berserker physiques and cases of aquavit into bulky, gas-swilling Volvo wagons and equally thirsty hot-rod Saabs when they hit the Scandinavian road, but that may have to change, according to this article in the Gray Lady. The rest of Yurp is getting all… »7/06/07 3:30pm 7/06/07 3:30pm

Sweet George Washington. Looks like the green-toothed, cheese-eating surrender monkeys are saddling up to the hoon-hating Pope. Sorry to revert to silly stereotypes, but this is just lousy. European leaders are in talks with each other discussing the possibility of banning high-powered sports cars on the Continent… »6/26/07 6:15pm 6/26/07 6:15pm

The California Air Resources Board, in a attempt to comply with the greenhouse gas reduction requirements of Schwarzenegger-signed AB 32, votes today on a possible ban of small cans of air-conditioner refrigerant containing HFC 134a aka R134a (i.e., the supposedly ozone-layer-friendly stuff that replaced good ol'… »6/21/07 6:30pm 6/21/07 6:30pm

One of Los Jalops has been a vegetarian for nearly exactly twelve years now. At the time, he drove a V8 automobile. Twelve years later, he still drives a V8 automobile. That is to say, he's sort of a hypocrite, yet with the amount he actually drives said V8 automobile, coupled with his reduced appetite for… »6/01/07 4:45pm 6/01/07 4:45pm

When we were in junior high we had an earth sciences teacher who taught us about carbon dioxide emissions, the greenhouse effect, and the rapidly approaching ice age. As Meatloaf bellowed out to Cher a little later - two out of three ain't bad. What us kids didn't have back then were video cameras, a bunch of… »5/30/07 2:30pm 5/30/07 2:30pm

El Presidente Chavez says he is happy Venezuelan driver Milka Duno and Citgo will run the Indy 500, even though no gasoline will be involved. The surprise is that Al Gore or any other American politician didn't beat El Presidente to this aggrandizement political punch, considering Indy cars have been running on… »5/24/07 5:00pm 5/24/07 5:00pm

European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday that screaming autobahn speed jockeys "waste energy in a completely senseless way and burden the climate" and called for unspecified speed limits as part of European efforts to reduce carbon emissions. For the most… »3/12/07 9:00am 3/12/07 9:00am

Guess we'd better make other plans for this week, lest we run afoul of one pro-bicycle group that aims to shut down the Chicago auto show. The group, AutoShowShutdown.org recently launched a web parody of the Chicago show's site, on which they provided counterpoint to the show site's content. The group even rebuffed… »2/05/07 10:49am 2/05/07 10:49am

We just checked out an op-ed piece in the LAT and we have to agree — it's simply not sporting for California AG Bill Lockyer to sue automakers for obeying the law. Every new car sold by the major automakers in California meets CARB emissions standards, so how can an agent of the state sue people for obeying the law?… »9/22/06 11:15pm 9/22/06 11:15pm